Grand Marshal Mark Levine waves to people while guiding West Haven’s Memorial Day parade up Campbell Avenue on Monday morning. Levine, an Army veteran and a lifelong Westie, served in the Vietnam War in 1970-71. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)

Parade honors America’s fallen

WEST HAVEN, May 30, 2023 — Vietnam veteran Mark Levine led the city’s Memorial Day parade as grand marshal, guiding the 48-unit procession of veterans, bands and dignitaries, including Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and other city officials, along Campbell Avenue on Monday morning.

The parade stepped from Captain Thomas Boulevard north to Center Street, where hundreds of revelers thronged the 1 ½-mile route, American flags waving, for the annual patriotic march.

Read the full story and see the photo gallery at Memorial Day Parade.

51 bricks dedicated at Veterans Walk of Honor ceremony

West Haven Vietnam Army veterans Mark Levine, left, and Al Beck Sr. lay a wreath at the base of the William A. Soderman Memorial in Bradley Point Park during the city’s Phase 15 dedication of the brick Veterans Walk of Honor on Saturday. Levine was this year’s grand marshal of the West Haven Memorial Day parade, and Beck is the vice president of the West Haven Veterans Council. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)

51 bricks dedicated at Vets Walk of Honor ceremony

WEST HAVEN, May 30, 2023 — Dozens of veterans and their families from across Connecticut, joined by city and state leaders and members of West Haven’s Veterans Council and three fire departments, came out late Saturday afternoon to help dedicate 51 bricks as part of Phase 15 of the Veterans Walk of Honor.

The patriotic crowd, many wearing red, white and blue, gathered along the Walk of Honor in the heart of Bradley Point Park as Mayor Nancy R. Rossi delivered poignant remarks dedicating the new bricks.

“Thank you to the West Haven Veterans Council for continuing this tradition as well as city Human Resources Commissioner Beth A. Sabo for overseeing the construction each year (of the walkway’s bricks),” said Rossi, speaking in front of a black granite memorial in commemoration of World War II Army Pfc. William A. Soderman.

Rossi continued: “I hope that each of you are able to take a moment today spending time with each installment. I am deeply proud of West Haven’s commitment to its veterans and believe our Veterans Walk of Honor is truly exemplary. I would like to thank each veteran for their service, their courage and their commitment to our country.”

Public Works Commissioner Tom J. McCarthy served as the master of ceremonies.

Read the full story and see the photo gallery at Veterans Walk of Honor.

Beach parking information

WEST HAVEN, May 26, 2023 — Nonresidents must pay to park in all shoreline lots in West Haven by using a “Pay for Parking” smartphone app.

Nonresidents can pay to park by scanning the QR code on the Premium Parking sign in each lot or texting the lot code to 504504. Both options will connect them to the Premium Parking website to complete the transaction. Nonresidents can also download the Premium Parking app on the Apple or Google app stores.

The daily parking fee for nonresidents is $5 per hour, or $30 per day, payable by credit card only. A nonresident seasonal parking pass for $250 is also available.

Parking is free for residents, provided their vehicles, including motorcycles and new, leased or military-exempt vehicles, are registered in West Haven and they are not delinquent on their motor vehicle taxes. A “new” vehicle means it was registered in West Haven after Oct. 1, 2022.

Taxpayers can check if they owe back taxes and make a payment at Taxpayers can check if they owe back taxes and make a payment at My Tax Bill.

The city is transitioning from using beach stickers to license plate numbers for proving that vehicles are registered in West Haven. Residents’ license plate numbers are registered in a tax office database. Each parking lot is equipped with a license plate scanner.

Beach parking lots are for use by both residents and nonresidents on a first-come, first-served basis. The lots are: Oyster River, South Street Upper, South Street Lower, Dawson Avenue, Sea Bluff, Bradley Point, Rock Street, Oak Street, Palace Street, Altschuler Boulevard and Sandy Point, as well as the April Street boat launch.

Parking violators will receive an invoice of at least $100 — a $100 citation, plus a fee for the amount of time they were parked — from Premium Parking, the New Orleans-based company contracted with helping West Haven develop a digitally driven paid parking program along the shoreline.

Make Music Day set for Old Grove Park on June 21

WEST HAVEN, May 26, 2023 — Make Music Day will return for a second year and celebrate the first day of summer with live music at the beach.The free event, presented by ArtsWestCT and the West Haven Early Childhood Council, is scheduled from 5-8:30 p.m. June 21 in Old Grove Park on Palace Street.Food trucks will be on-site, and community groups will have tables with educational information and helpful resources.Make Music West Haven is part of the international Make Music Day movement, which brings free communitywide musical celebrations to hundreds of cities worldwide on June 21, the summer solstice.West Haven attendees are encouraged to bring their musical instruments, or they can use one of a limited number made from repurposed materials and offered by ArtsWestCT for community use.Funding for ArtsWestCT's children's activities is provided by Dominate the Day Foundation. Support also comes from the SustainableCT Community Matching Fund. ArtsWestCT's financial sponsor is the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, which is anchoring Make Music Day for the area.To secure a community resource table, contact Elinor Slomba of ArtsWestCT at artswestct@gmail.com or 203-415-8865. Tables are free for organizing groups, but space is limited.Sign up for the ArtsWestCT Newsletter to receive updates.

West Haven Cricket Club wins Philadelphia Cricket Festival

West Haven Cricket Club wins Philly Cricket Festival

WEST HAVEN, May 23, 2023 — (Pictured): Members of the West Haven Cricket Club pose with the championship trophy after winning the 20th annual Philadelphia International Cricket Festival on May 7.

Kneeling are, from left, Manesh Prabhu, Azher Ali, Raj Khatri, Abhishek Chitale, Nikhel Thapar, Suriya Rajamani and Rajesh Narayanan. Standing are, from left, Sriram Ramesh, captain Prasanna Ramaswamy, Ranganath Kanna, Gautam Anne and Shreenath Rajagopalan.

The West Haven club was founded in 2001 and has competed against cricket clubs from around the world for the past decade in the PICF tournament, winning it for the first time this year.

Cricket is played with a red leather ball and a flat wooden bat by two teams of 11 players each on a large field. The teams bat and bowl alternately, with the batting team attempting to score runs. The team scoring the most runs wins.

The West Haven club plays at Peterson Soccer Field on Bull Hill Lane and is supported by the city departments of Parks and Recreation, Park Maintenance and Public Works.

The Philadelphia Cricket Club is the oldest cricket club in the U.S., formed in 1834.

(Contributed Photo)

Craft, farm, food truck vendors sought for market

WEST HAVEN, May 4, 2023 — The city is seeking craft, farm and food truck vendors to participate in the Tony Inzero Farmers Market, which will open its 2023 season July 6 in the Oak Street Beach parking lot off Captain Thomas Boulevard.

The market, nestled on the right side of the Oak Street municipal lot, will include state farmers selling homegrown fruits and vegetables and crafters selling wares from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays and Saturdays through Oct. 14.

It will also include food trucks.

To participate in the semiweekly market, download an Application.

Applications are also available for pickup in the mayor’s office at City Hall, 355 Main St., where they are due June 16.

Completed applications must be emailed to Killian Gruber, the market’s manager, at kgruber@westhaven-ct.gov or faxed to 203-937-3705.

For more information, call Gruber at 203-937-3510.

Food scrap bags sold at retail sites

WEST HAVEN, Feb. 24, 2023 — Residents who need more green and orange food scrap bags can buy them at the following retail locations ($1.05 for five green bags and $1.55 for five orange bags):

• Krauszer’s Food Store, 10 Jones Hill Road (Babybrook Shopping Center, corner of Ocean Avenue)

• Krauszer’s Food Store, 911 Campbell Ave. (corner of Spring Street)

• Krauszer’s Food Store, 377 Campbell Ave. (corner of Brown Street)

• Krauszer’s Food Store, 191 Platt Ave. (near the WHHS entrance)

• Nazar Halal Meat & Market, 39 Elm St. (West River Plaza)

• Greatway Food Store, 502 Sawmill Road (across from Walmart)

• Best Gas & Food Mart, 161 Boston Post Road (near the Allington Green)

• Noble Gas Station, 941 Boston Post Road (corner of Farwell Street)

City touts launch of state’s largest food-to-clean-energy program

WEST HAVEN, Nov. 14, 2022 — West Haven is the first city in the state to offer a citywide curbside food scrap diversion option to all single-family residents, Mayor Nancy R. Rossi announced.

Rossi said the program allows all single-family homes — one, two and three families — to easily separate food scraps and have them collected at the curb in the same container now used for residents’ trash collection.

The city has received a $1.3 million Sustainable Materials Management grant from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to develop and launch a food-to-clean-energy program.

Grant Coordinator Doug Colter, who secured the funding for the city, said the state is facing a solid waste disposal crisis, as traditional options for disposing of municipal solid waste are diminishing or becoming more expensive. With fewer and rapidly aging disposal options in Connecticut, residents and municipal leaders can expect disposal costs to increase at the remaining waste incineration facilities “as well as out-of-state landfilling,” Colter said.

On Nov. 7, the West Haven Food to Clean Energy program launched a nine-month pilot project for curbside food scrap diversion. Participation in the program comes at no cost to the 16,000 eligible households.

Colter said the funding covers the purchase of special color-coded bags for trash and for food scrap separation for the nine-month pilot. It also covers the cost of educational materials — mailers, a website and a Connect mobile app — along with personnel to sort the bags and the shipment of food scraps to Quantum Biopower in Southington, where the food will be converted into clean electricity, he said.

More details at Food Scrap Recycling.

Informational Materials

The Downsizing Donation Guide: A Resource for Residents of New Haven County (PDF)

What’s In? What’s Out? A Guide to Recycling (PDF)